After St. John’s wore down Niagara Saturday afternoon in Carnesecca Arena, coach Norm Roberts responded like a holiday shopper on Black Friday when asked what’s different about this year’s 3-0 team than last year’s squad, which went 9-18.

The Red Storm will find out tonight just how tough it is when it hosts Hofstra (1-1). The Pride has owned the Red Storm of late, beating it 78-68 last season and handing St. John’s its second-worst loss ever in the House That Looie Built, 81-64 two years ago.

Like St. John’s, Hofstra’s lineup is loaded with players from the metropolitan area. Guard Antoine Agudio of Huntington Station and power forward Kenny Harris of The Bronx won’t back down from anyone.

“It’s huge [having guys from the area],” agreed Hofstra coach Tom Pecora. “You can’t play scared. You can’t live scared. We talk about that all that time. If you do, you’re missing out on so much.

“We play hard and clean, just like they do,” added Pecora. “I think you could play this game anywhere. It could be a shirts and skins pickup game in the summer or it could be in Carnesecca Arena.”

The key matchup will be in the backcourt where Agudio, who’s averaging 12.5 points, and Loren Stokes (8.5) of Buffalo give Hofstra one of the best mid-major backcourts in the nation. St. John’s counters with Daryll Hill (15.3) of Queens and Eugene Lawrence (8.3) of Brooklyn.

In the win over Niagara, it was Lawrence’s early decision to let the Purple Eagles know his team wouldn’t be “punked” this year that set the tone. Lawrence and Niagara’s Lorenzo Miles got into it early, with both players drawing technical fouls.

Miles, a talented player from Washington, D.C., had a terrible game, going just 1-for-14. If it was Lawrence’s intention to get into Miles’ head, mission accomplished.

“I think it will be a very physical game,” said Pecora. “I think that’s how they beat Niagara; they wore them down.

“We talk about it all the time, ‘Don’t let anyone play harder than you, especially when you go on the road. When you play in some of the gyms we play in, Old Dominion or North Carolina-Wilmington, you have to have that mindset.”

Both teams will have that mindset tonight – which means something’s got to give.

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Pencil in Friday night, Jan. 20 as a special one in St. John’s basketball history. Ten former players, led by Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson, will be bestowed with Basketball Legacy Honors in a ceremony at Carnesecca Arena.